Sara Lee narrows HQ search to city, Downers Grove

Decision could come as early as Friday

Sara Lee Corp. is on the verge of picking the building for its new corporate headquarters, with a decision expected as soon as Friday, said people familiar with the company's plans.

Sara Lee Corp. is on the verge of picking the building for its new corporate headquarters, with a decision expected as soon as Friday, said people familiar with the company's plans.

The Chicago-based consumer products company has narrowed its search down to two locations, one in the city and one in west suburban Downers Grove, the people said.

If it picks Dowers Grove, it would occupy the former Spiegel Inc. headquarters building at 3500 Lacey Rd., confirmed Gary Mori, a partner at Hamilton Partners Inc., the Itasca-based firm that owns the property.

The leading contender downtown is a 35-story building at 222 S. Riverside Plaza, the people said. Sara Lee would sublease space from Deutsche Bank AG, which leases roughly 375,000-square-feet in the 1.1 million-square-foot high-rise. A broker representing Deutsche Bank declined to discuss Sara Lee's search.

Sara Lee needs as much as 400,000 square feet of space as part of a major corporate restructuring announced in February that would relocate staff from St. Louis and Cincinnati to the Chicago area. The company expects to employ 900 to 1,200 people at its headquarters, up from the roughly 300 that work in its current corporate offices at Three First National Plaza in the Loop.

A Sara Lee spokeswoman declined to comment, saying only that a decision would be made before Memorial Day.